Laboratory Investigation on Microwave Deicing Function of Micro Surfacing Asphalt Mixtures Reinforced by Carbon Fiber

Traffic accidents occur frequently during snowfall and freezing rain in winter. Therefore, it is desirable that snow and ice be removed effectively and rapidly without using chemical salt or mechanical devices. In this paper, the influences of carbon fiber with different contents on mechanical properties, microwave reflectivity, and microwave deicing time of micro surfacing asphalt mixtures were investigated. The results indicate the percentage of carbon fiber has significant influences on the mechanical properties of the mixtures. The flexural strength of the mixtures with 0.75 % carbon fiber was 1.5 times and the compressive strength with 0.45 % was 1.3 times higher than those of the mixtures without carbon fiber. At the percentage of 0.45, the minimum reflectivity was reached as –13.5 dB in the frequency range of 2.3–2.6 GHz. The carbon fiber addition can evidently enhance the ability of the mixtures to absorb the microwave. The deicing time keeps decreasing as the carbon fiber percentage increases from 0.15 % until 0.45 %; then increases gradually and rises sharply until 0.75 %. The minimum deicing time reaches 55 s for the mixtures with 0.45 % carbon fiber. The lower the microwave reflectivity is, the shorter the deicing time. The thickness of ice is also found to be an important factor affecting the deicing time of the mixtures. The mixtures with around 15 mm thick ice obtain the shortest deicing time.